1. The Lord says, "Walk up and down the streets of Jerusalem. Look around and discover these things. Search the public squares of the city. If you can find one person who does honest things, who searches for the truth, I will forgive this city.
2. Although the people say, 'As surely as the Lord lives!' they don't really mean it."
3. Lord, don't you look for truth in people? You struck the people of Judah, but they didn't feel any pain. You crushed them, but they refused to learn what is right. They became more stubborn than a rock; they refused to turn back to God.
4. But I thought, "These are only the poor, foolish people. and what their God wants them to do.
5. So I will go to the leaders of Judah and talk to them. and know what God wants them to do." But even the leaders had all joined together to break away from the Lord; they had broken their ties with him.
6. So a lion from the forest will attack them. A wolf from the desert will kill them. A leopard is waiting for them near their towns. It will tear to pieces anyone who comes out of the city, because the people of Judah have sinned greatly. many times.
7. The Lord said, "Tell me why I should forgive you. Your children have left me and have made promises to idols that are not gods at all. I gave your children everything they needed, but they still were like an unfaithful wife to me. They spent much time in houses of prostitutes.
8. They are like well-fed horses filled with sexual desire; each one wants another man's wife.
9. Shouldn't I punish the people of Judah for doing these things?" says the Lord. "Shouldn't I give a nation such as this the punishment it deserves?
10. "Go along and cut down Judah's vineyards, but do not completely destroy them. Cut off all her people as if they were branches, because they do not belong to the Lord.
11. The families of Israel and Judah have been completely unfaithful to me," says the Lord.
12. Those people have lied about the Lord and said, "He will not do anything to us! Nothing bad will happen to us! We will never see war or hunger!
13. The prophets are like an empty wind; the word of God is not in them. Let the bad things they say happen to them."
14. So this is what the Lord God All-Powerful says: "The people said I would not punish them. So, the words I give you will be like fire, and these people will be like wood that it burns up.
15. Listen, family of Israel," says the Lord, "I will soon bring a nation from far away to attack you. It is an old nation that has lasted a long time. The people there speak a language you do not know; you cannot understand what they say.
16. Their arrows bring death. All their people are strong warriors.
17. They will eat your crops and your food. They will eat your sons and daughters. They will eat your flocks and herds. They will eat your grapes and figs. They will destroy with their swords the strong, walled cities you trust.
18. "Yet even then," says the Lord, "I will not destroy you completely.
19. When the people of Judah ask, 'Why has the Lord our God done all these terrible things to us?' then give them this answer: 'You have left the Lord and served foreign idols in your own land. So now you will serve foreigners in a land that does not belong to you.'
20. "Announce this message to the family of Jacob, and tell it to the nation of Judah:
21. Hear this message, you foolish people who have no sense. They have eyes, but they don't really see. They have ears, but they don't really listen.
22. Surely you are afraid of me," says the Lord. "You should shake with fear in my presence. I am the one who made the beaches to be a border for the sea, a border the water can never go past. The waves may pound the beach, but they can't win over it. They may roar, but they cannot go beyond it.
23. But the people of Judah are stubborn and have turned against me. They have turned aside and gone away from me.
24. They do not say to themselves, 'We should fear the Lord our God, who gives us autumn and spring rains in their seasons, who makes sure we have the harvest at the right time.'
25. But your evil has kept away both rain and harvest. Your sins have kept you from enjoying good things.
26. There are wicked men among my people. Like those who make nets for catching birds, they set their traps to catch people.
27. Like cages full of birds, their houses are full of lies. They have become rich and powerful.
28. They have grown big and fat. There is no end to the evil things they do. They won't plead the case of the orphan or help the poor be judged fairly.
29. Shouldn't I punish the people of Judah for doing these things?" says the Lord. "Shouldn't I give a nation such as this the punishment it deserves?
30. "A terrible and shocking thing has happened in the land of Judah:
31. The prophets speak lies, and the priests take power into their own hands, and my people love it this way. But what will you do when the end comes?